Lamb: Moores under pressure if England crash out

England's clash with Sri Lanka is make-or-break for their World Cup campaign, according to former captain Allan Lamb, who believes coach Peter Moores' job could be under threat if they make an early exit.

Eoin Morgan's men finally got their tournament up and running with a 119-run hammering of neighbours Scotland in Christchurch on Monday following crushing defeats to co-hosts Australia and New Zealand.

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Critics rounded on England after meek displays in their opening two games of the tournament and they can ill afford any more slip-ups if they are to make it through to the quarter-finals.

Moores returned for a second spell as head coach of his country last April, but Lamb expects the former Lancashire coach's position to be under threat if England fail to progress from Pool A

He told Perform: "This is his second bite at the cherry and if you don't get the performances then the board are going to have to look elsewhere. It's a tough old job this when you take over something and you don't perform.

"If England get knocked out early in the World Cup then the media will start asking more questions about Moores' position."

Moeen Ali (128) made his biggest one-day international score and fellow opener Ian Bell (54) chipped in with a half-century as England made 303-8 and Scotland could only muster 184 in reply.

Lamb, England's second-highest run-scorer in World Cup cricket behind Graham Gooch, was encouraged by the performance at the Hagley Oval, but sees plenty of room for improvement ahead of a potentially crucial clash with Sri Lanka.

He said: "We should have got a lot more runs. It was a great opening partnership and it was a better performance, I thought they bowled better. Sri Lanka is going to be a tough game for them, I think if they lose to Sri Lanka they are knackered.

"There are some good players there, but these guys have just got to go and bat the overs and get the runs on the board. We had a really good opening partnership, but I think we really should have cashed in against Scotland and got close to 400.

"It's going to be tough. Sri Lanka have had some tough games, they're not really playing as well as they can so we've got an outside chance. But I think Sri Lanka will start off as favourites."

Lamb was speaking during a trip to South Africa, where he will return in December with an Allan Lamb Associates touring party to watch England take on the Proteas.